


Not Throwing Away My Shot

by little0bird



Series: When Jack's Heart Stopped [7]
Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: First Kisses, Fluff, Goodbye For The Summer, Graduation, M/M, Sweet, The Haus (Check Please!)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-17
Updated: 2019-08-17
Packaged: 2020-09-02 12:47:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 617
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20276149
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/little0bird/pseuds/little0bird
Summary: All the spoken dialogue is from "Goodbye For the Summer, Part I & II" in Check, Please! - Book 1: #Hockey.





	Not Throwing Away My Shot

**Author's Note:**

> All the spoken dialogue is from "Goodbye For the Summer, Part I & II" in Check, Please! - Book 1: #Hockey.

Jack pelted across the campus, his father’s words ringing in his head. He hoped he managed to arrive at the Haus before Bitty’s shuttle to the airport in Boston did. He hoped he would have a few minutes to properly say good-bye. To say what had been swirling in his head since Christmas break. He’d been so confused about himself for so long, wondering if his attraction to Kent had less to do with his sexuality and more with craving a connection with someone who understood Jack’s anxieties and the pressure he was under. He hadn’t seriously considered dating anyone after he was released from rehab. Not until he came to Samwell. Not until he’d put enough distance between himself and his overdose to wonder if what he’d felt for Kent was an effect of his anxiety or who he was.   


He thought Lardo might suspect how he felt. He’d shown her his portfolio for the photography class before he turned it in. She had paused for a long time on one of Bitty in Farber, bathed in sunlight, gliding over the ice in his figure skates.  _ There’s a lot of photos with Bitty, _ she’d remarked in a neutral voice. Jack had shrugged if off.  _ He’s a good subject, _ he had replied, feeling a flush creep up the back of his neck.   


The front door was unlocked. Jack burst through it, sweat trickling down his back. He dashed up the stairs and skidded to a stop outside Bitty’s room. ‘Bittle!’

It was unoccupied.   


_ Dammit! _ He smacked the doorframe, cursing himself for not just  _ saying _ it before now. It wasn’t as if they’d lacked for opportunities, but all the words crowded in a jumble on his tongue.   


‘Lord…’  _ Sniff _ . Jack spun on his heels. Bitty stood in his old room -- Chowder’s now -- fussing with one of the goalie's many San Jose sweatshirts. ‘I can feel your--

‘Bittle.’ Jack walked into the room, almost in a daze and grasped Bitty’s elbow.

Bitty gasped. ‘Hello--!’ He stared at Jack. ‘Hello! Jack…?’ He pulled his earbuds out and wound the cord around his phone, eyeing Jack. ‘Oh my goodness… Why are… Is everything all right? You’re outta breath! You could have texted--’ As always, words just poured out of Bitty.

Jack gulped. ‘Bitty…’ Once again, all the words died in his throat.  _ You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take. _ He lowered his mouth to Bitty’s. He heard Bitty’s sharp intake of breath, then the soft hum of bliss as the kiss deepened and Jack’s hand rose to gently cup Bitty’s face.

He broke off the kiss and pulled away slightly. Bitty’s eyes were closed, mouth slightly open, cheeks flushed. Jack drew Bitty closer and kissed him again, annoyed when his phone began to buzz insistently. ‘That’s… um. That’s my phone,’ he murmured against Bitty’s lips. ‘I should…’

Bitty exhaled slowly. ‘Oh.’

Jack glanced down at the screen. There were multiple messages from Bob. He sighed. ‘I gotta go,’ he muttered.

‘Okay.’   


‘I gotta go. But I’ll text you, okay?’ Jack promised.

‘Okay.’ Bitty seemed to have lost the entirety of his vocabulary.

Jack stepped back, clasping Bitty’s hands. He stood rooted to the spot, unwilling to leave just yet. Bitty tugged his hands, pulling Jack closer, and then rose on his toes and kissed Jack, his fingers curling into the sleeve of the graduation gown Jack still wore.   


Jack reluctantly ended the kiss and began to walk out of the room backward. ‘I’ll text you,’ he repeated.

‘Okay.’

Jack turned and clattered down the stairs and walked onto the porch. He began to tap furiously on his phone.   


_ Text me when you land in Atlanta. I’ll call you tonight. _


End file.
